16 Mar 2024 | 04:15am IST
Goans as young as 4 years old will be swimming across the Mandovi river this weekend as part of their school’s efforts to teach every student swimming which they consider to be a life skill
Ajit John
Water is all around Goa. It would seem that every Goan child grows up learning how to swim. Sadly, that is not the case. It is a life skill which could be of great help to the child. It is not taught in school and the knowledge of swimming among the young is not very high. However, there is one school in Goa where students are required to learn how to swim. Shiksha Niketan School in Porvorim has a programme where every student in the school has to swim across the Mandovi river. They, of course, will be trained by the school. This Sunday, students as young as 7 years will be swimming from the Reis Magos beach to the Panjim Football Ground, Campal-Panjim.
For the parents, the coaches and the officials involved it is a matter of great pride to see the young transform before them. Young children who dreaded dipping their toes into the pool transforming into expert swimmers capable of doing distances that require great stamina.
Ashwin Tombat who is involved in organising the event since 1999 when it was first held says the school was one of the few in Goa to do this. He says, “They would organise a month-long camp and teach young people from scratch and then they would organise this swim at the end of the month. It has been held every year except for the time when there was Covid. I expect around 30 to 45 kids to cross the river. The swim will start at 10 in the morning and should go on for an hour and a half. The fast kids will complete it in 20 minutes. We have made arrangements to ensure that the crafts that use the river do not disturb the kids.”
Indrajeet Khadilkar, a coach who was involved in training a few kids says all of them could swim very well. He has trained them for 4 to 5 months and the school has done a very good job using the SAG Campal pool with the collaboration of good swimming coaches to train the kids. Indrajeet says the students would do very well during the swim.
For the parents, it was an experience that was making them feel all the emotions. Poornima Balagopal, mother of an 8 year old girl Anushka, says her daughter was taught swimming very diligently and she now loved it. She had swum last year and was looking forward to the experience this year too. Crossing the Mandovi did not daunt her. She says, “As a parent, I feel it is a wonderful programme and the point is to learn an essential skill. They have a solid swimming camp every year and have built a strong swimming foundation. You will see tiny kids jumping from 3 metres board and then going higher. No one is pushed. Everyone does it of their own free will and the teachers and volunteers involved are incredible”. Last year she says there were around 23 kids who swam and this year around 42 kids were shortlisted. It is up to the kids she says if they wanted to do this. They would have to swim 10 laps of the Olympic sized pool and qualify to swim on Sunday. With regards to safety, she says every good would have a competent companion swimmer to accompany them. There would also be a couple of boats that would accompany the swimmers. Anushka has been swimming since the time she was 2.5 years and she will be watched by her proud parents on Sunday.
Saurabh Gaur, father of Yuvaan who is 7 years old, says it was quite an achievement and since he had coached his son he was very proud of him. He says this swim on Sunday would give his son the confidence to strive for bigger ones. Barriers, he says, had to be broken down. It does wonders to the personality and a lot of kids were scared to do something but when somebody around them does something big it rubs off on all of them he says.
There are some very young swimmers too. Shimona Fernandes has a six-year-old son Seth swimming on Sunday. She says she was very excited but also very nervous. She says, “It is the first time he will be doing this. He has been swimming for a couple of months having started swimming seriously in June. I will be swimming with another group. Every child will have a mentor who is not their parent. Seth pursued swimming and in time they found him good enough to participate on Sunday.”
Astrid Pinto who believes firmly in staying on firm land will now watch her two very young children swim on Sunday. Mikael is 8 and Louse is 6.5. She says she was excited but nervous. She says, “I am not a swimmer but I was amazed to watch my children swim and was surprised by their stamina. I volunteered for the first three weeks of the camp and would see young children terrified of the water but then within the first week would be able to float and glide in the water. There are two boys from senior kg who are participating. It is just fantastic.”
Then finally there is Lalitha Braganca who has three kids participating in the event for the second time. Zara who is 11, Yohan (9) and Zella (7) will be swimming. She says, “Last year was their first attempt but this year they are confident and it is a proud moment for my husband and me. There are a few schools that do this. We Goans need to know how to swim. It is a life skill.”
Life skill it certainly is. One wishes all the participants all the best.